Gentle on My Mind
Gentle on My Mind
John Hartford
Classic Country
Key
Chords
A
A6
Amaj7
Bm
Bm7
Bmmaj7
E
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Chord Chart
Backing Track
Lyrics
It's knowing that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag
Rolled up and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowing I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that are dried upon some line
That keeps you in the backroads
By the rivers of my memory
That keeps you ever gentle on my mind
It's not clinging to the rocks and ivy
Planted on their columns now that bind me
Or something that somebody said
Because they thought we fit together walking
It's just knowing that the world will not be cursing
Or forgiving when I walk along some railroad track and find
That you're moving on the backroads
By the rivers of my memory
And for hours you're just gentle on my mind
Though the wheat fields and the clothes lines
And the junkyards and the highways come between us
And some other woman's crying to her mother
Cause she turned and I was gone
I still might run in silence tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me 'til I'm blind
But not to where I cannot see
You walking on the backroads
By the rivers flowing gentle on my mind
I dip my cup of soup back from a gurgling
Crackling cauldron in some train yard
My beard a roughening coal pile,
And a dirty hat pulled low across my face
Through cupped hands round the tin can
I pretend to hold you to my breast and find
That you're waiting from the backroads
By the rivers of my memories
Ever smiling, ever gentle on my mind
Demo Videos
Tim O'Brien band feat. Bryan Sutton - Gentle On My Mind
Bluegrass & Flatpicking Guitar Channel
Gentle On My Mind - Molly Tuttle at Augusta Bluegrass Week 2016
Augusta Heritage Center
Alison Krauss Gentle On My Mind Andrew Marr Show 2017
Peter Thomas
Grass Roots to Bluegrass -JohnHartford -Gentle On My Mind
Harf
About This Song
Gentle on My Mind is John Hartford's best-known composition, made famous by Glen Campbell in 1967 and later recorded by countless artists across multiple genres. Hartford himself was a beloved figure in bluegrass, and this song remains a standard at jams despite its sophisticated chord changes and jazz-influenced harmony.
